System and method for reducing plastic waste in inkjet printers

Abstract

An inkjet printer uses ink supply containers that includes bladders for holding waste fluids produced by printhead maintenance stations. The bladders are connected serially or in parallel to the output ports of the printhead maintenance stations to store waste fluids within the bladders of the ink supply containers. As the ink supply containers are depleted of their supply ink, they are replaced and new ink supply containers having bladders within them are installed to renew the capacity of the printer to store waste fluids. In two embodiments, the need for a waste fluid reservoir is eliminated and in a third embodiment, the operational life of a waste fluid reservoir is extended. In all of these embodiments, the production of plastic waste by the printer is reduced.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An inkjet printer comprising:
 at least one printhead maintenance station configured to perform at least one purge cycle on at least one printhead in the inkjet printer to produce waste fluids; and   at least one ink supply container having a bladder positioned within an internal volume of the ink supply container, the bladder being fluidly coupled to the printhead maintenance system to receive waste fluids from the printhead maintenance station, wherein the at least one ink supply container comprises a plurality of ink supply containers, each ink supply container having a bladder positioned within the internal volume of the ink supply container, an input of each bladder of the plurality of ink supply containers being fluidly connected to one another and the at least one printhead maintenance station.   
     
     
         2 . The inkjet printer of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a waste fluid reservoir that is fluidly connected to the at least one printhead maintenance station and the inputs of the bladders in the plurality of ink supply containers, the waste fluid reservoir being configured to receive waste fluids from the at least one printhead maintenance station and send the waste fluids from the waste fluid reservoir to at least one of the inputs of the bladders in the plurality of ink supply containers. 
 
     
     
         3 . The inkjet printer of  claim 2  further comprising:
 a pneumatic device configured to move waste fluids out of the waste fluid reservoir. 
 
     
     
         4 . The inkjet printer of  claim 3  further comprising:
 a controller operatively connected to the pneumatic device, the controller being configured to: 
 operate the pneumatic device on a timed periodic basis to move waste fluids from the waste fluid reservoir to the at least one input of the bladders in the ink supply containers. 
 
     
     
         5 . The inkjet printer of  claim 3  further comprising:
 a fluid level detector configured to generate a signal indicative of a fluid level within the waste fluid reservoir; and 
 a controller operatively connected to the fluid level detector and the pneumatic device, the controller being configured to:
 operate the pneumatic device when the fluid level detector generates a signal indicating the fluid level has reached a predetermined level. 
 
 
     
     
         6 . The inkjet printer of  claim 3  wherein the pneumatic device is a pump. 
     
     
         7 . The inkjet printer of  claim 3  wherein the bladder consists essentially of a flexible polymeric material. 
     
     
         8 . The inkjet printer of  claim 7  wherein the bladder hangs from the input to the bladder within the internal volume of the ink supply container in which the bladder is located without supporting structure within the volume of the ink supply container. 
     
     
         9 . A method of operating an inkjet printer comprising:
 performing at least one purge cycle on at least one printhead in the inkjet printer to produce waste fluids; and   directing the waste fluids into at least one ink supply container having a bladder positioned within an internal volume of the ink supply container, the at least one ink supply container including a plurality of ink supply containers with each ink supply container having the bladder positioned with the internal volume of the ink supply container, and an input of each bladder in the plurality of ink supply containers being fluidly connected to one another.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising:
 receiving the waste fluids in a waste fluid reservoir before directing the waste fluids to the input of each bladder in the ink supply containers in the plurality of ink supply containers. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 operating a pneumatic device to move waste fluids out of the waste fluid reservoir into the plurality of bladders in the plurality of ink supply containers. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the pneumatic device is operated on a timed periodic basis. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 generating a signal indicative of a fluid level within the waste fluid reservoir; and 
 operating the pneumatic device when the generated signal indicates the fluid level has reached a predetermined level. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9  wherein directing waste fluids into the bladder increases an internal volume of the bladder. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the bladder opens by unrolling or unfolding as the volume of ink within the housing decreases. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein each bladder of each ink supply container hangs from an input connector and is supported by a volume of ink within the ink supply container, wherein the bladder opens as the volume of ink within the ink supply container decreases. 
     
     
         17 . An ink supply container for use in an inkjet printer comprising:
 a housing having an internal volume configured to hold a volume of ink;   a bladder positioned within the internal volume of the housing; and   an input connector on the housing, the input connector being configured to enable waste fluid to enter the bladder positioned within the housing, wherein the bladder hangs from the input connector and the bladder and waste fluid therein is supported by the volume of ink within the housing, and wherein the bladder opens as the volume of ink within the housing decreases.   
     
     
         18 . The ink supply container of  claim 17  wherein the housing consists essentially of hard plastic. 
     
     
         19 . The ink supply container of  claim 18  wherein the hard plastic consists essentially of acetal, acrylic, polyimide, glass epoxy, thermoset plastic, high impact polystyrene, poly carbonate, or poly vinyl chloride. 
     
     
         20 . The ink supply container of  claim 18  wherein the bladder consists essentially of a flexible polymeric material. 
     
     
         21 . The ink supply container of  claim 20  wherein the flexible polymeric material consists essentially of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), or linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). 
     
     
         22 . The ink supply container of  claim 20  wherein a thickness of the flexible polymeric material is within a range of 75 to 300 microns. 
     
     
         23 . The ink supply container of  claim 18  wherein the bladder hangs from the input connection without supporting structure within the internal volume of the housing. 
     
     
         24 . The ink supply container of  claim 23  wherein the bladder opens by unrolling as the volume of ink within the housing decreases. 
     
     
         25 . The ink supply container of  claim 23  wherein the bladder opens by unfolding as the volume of ink within the housing decreases. 
     
     
         26 . The ink supply container of  claim 17 , the input connector further comprising:
 a no-drip shutoff valve.   
     
     
         27 . The ink supply container of  claim 17 , the input connector further comprising:
 a one way valve.